FINAL Exam Study Materials For Sociology101 / Professor Levine Be sure to print out the two documents with concepts from Berger's book and this one: http://sociology101.net/key‐concepts‐from‐Berger‐book.pdf http://www.sociology101.net/CHART-FOR-BERGER-2013.pdf
As you know, the final exam will cover material from the whole semester. As we discussed in class:
1) about a third of the exam will cover the readings and lectures from the first part of the course that
was covered in the first two exams.
2) about a third of the exam will cover readings and lectures from Invitation to Sociology by Peter
Berger, and
3) about third of the exam will put together material from Berger's book and the readings.
The questions about the readings in the first part will be much like the questions on the first two exams.
The questions on the second part will be the same sort of questions about Invitation to Sociology.
The questions on the third part require using or applying the concepts and ideas from Berger's book to
the articles, and using material from the articles as examples of the concepts, ideas and perspectives
that Berger discusses.
The Study Guides for the first two exams are on the website and will continue to be useful.
The two documents now on the web site about Berger's book also present key concepts and ideas in
Berger's book. One document lists the key concepts from all the chapters we read. The other one is a
chart showing central concepts and ideas in three main headings: Man in Society, Society in Man, and
Society as Drama.
For Berger's book you want to know the same kinds of things that you knew for the articles in the first
part of the course. You want to know chapter titles and some central ideas from each chapter, and
especially the key concepts or terms that Berger uses and that we covered repeatedly in class. You
want to know, for example, which chapter (the title) in which Berger discusses the four motifs that he
sees running through much sociological writing. You want to know the key terms used in the chapters
Man in Society, Society in Man, and Society as Drama. The documents on the web site with terms from
Berger's book should help a lot in getting those clear.
You want to be able to answer questions like the following:
-- What is the key or central concept in the chapter "Man in Society"?
-- What is the key or central concept in the chapter "Society in Man"?
-- What are the key terms or concepts in the chapters about Society as Drama and Sociology as a
Humanistic Discipline ?(they are treated a one combined chapter for this purpose)
--In which chapter is Social Control the key or central concept?
--In which chapter is Roles the key or central concept?
--In which chapter are Freedom and Choice the key or central concepts [tip: answer for this one is:
Society as Drama]
-- In which chapter is Debunking the key or central concept
--In which chapter does Berger discuss the four motifs? What are the four motifs? What do they mean
or refer to? Explain each motif in a sentence or two.
--Berger ends the chapter "Man in Society" with a metaphor or image. What is it?
--Beger ends the chapter "Society in Man" with a metaphor or image. What is it?
--Berger ends the chapter "Society as Drama" with a metaphor or image. What is it?
--Berger identifies the first, or basic form of Social Control. He says it is ______________.
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--Berger says that form of social control is often not needed because other forms of social control work
so well. What is the second basic form of social control he identifies? What is the third form of social
control he identifies?
TIP: Answering questions like the above is not rocket science. But it does require that one know the
titles of each of Berger's chapters, the key terms in the chapters, and other terms on the two other
documents about Berger posted on the web site and that we discussed in class.
You also want to be able to answer other questions about Berger's book such as:
--What is the book's subtitle.
--What does Debunking mean? Explain in a few sentences and give an example from the readings in
the first part of the course.
--What does Unrespectability mean? explain in a few sentences and give an example from the readings
in the first part of the course.
--in which chapter does Berger discuss Cosmopolitanism? Where does he say that Cosmopolitanism
developed -- in what kind of places or settings? What does Cosmopolitanism mean and refer to, What
is Berger referring to by Cosmopolitanism?
-- What does the word Consciousness mean? Define and explain it in a sentence.
-- In the Preface, Berger says he takes many illustrations from the field he has studied most, The
Sociology of _________. What is that field that he takes many examples from throughout the book:
The Sociology Food? Music? Art? Politics? Sport? what?
-- At the end of the first chapter (Sociology as Pastime) Berger says that people who like to avoid
shocking discoveries should ________________. What does he say they should do?
--In the last sentence of the first chapter Berger says that before proceeding in studying sociology one
should be told "caveat emptor." This is a Latino expression and it means ______________.
--In the first chapter Berger says that "the first wisdom of sociology is this: _______________.
You want to be able to answer the same kind of questions as above for the other chapters we read.
You also want to be able talk about the articles from the first part of the course using Berger's concepts.
And you want to be able to talk about Berger's concepts using examples from the articles from the first
part of the course.
This requires thinking and applying knowledge from one group of readings (the articles) to
another group of readings (Berger's chapter), and applying concepts from Berger's chapters to the
articles. To answer these kinds of questions is more than just remembering what an article is about, or
what concept Berger uses in which chapter.
This requires knowing what the concept or term means (such as debunking, social control,
roles, institutions, etc) and then finding articles from the first part of the course that describe something
(like the New York Police Department, or a Kindergarten or the Nacerima) for which the term is useful,
for naming or capturing something important that is being described in that article. For example:
Many of the articles that we read can be seen as debunking an idea and then telling what what truth is.
--What is the idea that Ronald Takaki is debunking in his article about Asian Americans and what does
he say the truth is?
--What is the idea that Marvin Harris is debunking in his article about the Sacred Cow and what does he
say the truth is?
--What is the idea that the articles about the Nacirema or Baseball are debunking and what do they say
the truth is?
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--What is the implicit idea that the article about the Pinto is debunking and what does it say the truth is?
Many other articles we read can be seen in the same way -- that is, the author is explicitly or implicitly
challenging a widely accept or believed idea, saying it is not true or correct or accurate, and then is
saying or describing what is true.
Some of the articles that we read are good examples of Social Control, of society external to the
individual that has power, or force over an individual.
Pick an article from the first part of the class that is describing some process of social control.
Explain what the article says using the concept of social control. Who is being controlled? What is
doing the controlling?
Pick another one, and another one, and another one. Have a number of articles that seem to
you good examples of social control -- so that you can explain why social control helps understand
what is going on,
Berger talks about socialization and internalization in the chapter Society in Man. What is he talking
about when he talks about socialization and internalization. How can society be inside of an individual?
Lectures emphasized that the word "society" refers to groups of all kinds; family, friends, work, schools,
religion, politics, advertising, the police, the courts, the army, corporations, banks, and much more.
According to Berger, sociology as a perspective or way of seeing focuses on the power that those
groups have over the individual. So we as individuals are subject in our own lives to the power those
groups over us. And when we are members of groups we have and use power over other individuals.
Think of some examples from your own life when you were subject to social control. Think of sometime
when you used social control against someone else.
Think of some examples from your own life when you were subject to socialization and internalization.
Think of sometimes when you socialized someone else, and when that person internalized something
you were socializing them in. Have a few examples ready so you can describe times when you were
subject to social control and to socialization. Have a few examples ready so you can describe times
when you used social control and some times when you used socialization on another person.
Now go back and look at the readings from the first part of the course. Pick one, then another, and then
another that seem to be good examples of groups that have or use social control. Do the same for
socialization and internalization and especially for the concept of Roles.
Think of some roles that you have played -- a job or on a team or in a group. Remember that being an
employee, a grandchild, a cousin, a college student, a high school student, a music student, a person
on a first date, are all placed in roles with rules, expectations, assumptions, possible rewards and
punishments.
What are a few good examples of articles we read that seem to describe what can be called Roles (do
this for the article "Learning the Student Role," but do this for several other articles as well? Might the
concept of roles be useful in understanding the article about Pain? Or about baseball, or the
Nacirema?
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The exam will have many fill in type questions as on the first two exams. For example,
-- "What is the full title and subtitle of the article about kindergarten?___________________________.
-- Define and describe the concept of "social control." Give an example from the readings of a obvious
case of social control? Answer in a few sentences.
There will also be some multiple choice questions, which you can answer if you have prepared to
answer fill in type questions. For example.
--The word “social” is used in sociology mostly or mainly to refer to: A)other people, especially in
groups, b)people in schools, c)people at parties, d)socialization e)none of the above
-- A large corporation is a very good example of: a)an institution b)a ritual c)social roles,
d)socialization,, e)none of the above
-- Which are examples of looking at the world from the point of view of unrespectable people: a)The
syphilis study b)The poor, c) Marijuana arrests in NY City, d)all of them e) none of them.
-- Shakespeare's famous line that all the world's a stage and we are merely players is central to the
concept of a)social control, b) roles, c) relativizing, d) unrespectability, e) consciousness
--At the end of the chapter about social control, who does Berger say will approve if social control is
used against us: a) our teachers, b) the police, c) religious people, d) the newspapers, e) most of our
fellow human beings
--The point, the punch line of Berger’s book and this class is that even though we face powerful forces
of social control and socialization, we are still always free individuals who must everyday make real and
important choices about what we want to do with our lives. a)true b)false c)this was not discussed
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FINAL TIPS:
Read closely and re-read, and re-read again the opening paragraphs of each chapter and the final
paragraphs of each chapter.
Remember that the introduction to anything (cooking, using a computer, the New York subway system
and Sociology) is a lot about learning vocabulary. Specific words are important and the full meaning of
them is important.
Remember that you are preparing to answer question (and not studying for an exam).
Remember that you want to be able to explain articles we read and chapters in Berger's book to
another human being so that person can understand it too.
Remember what the most important document in the class is, and know it well
Try to get a good night of sleep before the exam. Being tired and groggy does not help in an exam.
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